Zarkot and Jeriana
by Katherine-Magnolia
Summary: Zarkot and Jeriana are identical twins. Both have the ability to channel, even though Zarkot is a male. So why hasn't Zarkot been gentled yet and what is Jeriana's special power? Chapter Thirteen is up!
1. They Are Born

It was a stormy night when they were born. Or so their parents told them. She had been born first and had not cried. Her eyes had been wide open and all had marveled at the color of them; bright purple. The bit of hair she had on her head was the color of newly fallen snow.  
  
He had been born not a minute later. He had cried loudly and when he opened his eyes they found them to be the same as hers, only not so bright a color. His hair was also snow-white. Yet he seemed to be less then his sister, somehow he was less then his twin.  
  
They named her Jeriana and they named him Zarkot. Jeriana was the firstborn and therefore she was expected to be more then her twin, which she would have been even if he had been first-born. After all, she was a female while he was a male.  
  
The green-robed woman held Jeriana in her arms first and then held Zarkot. Her pale lips pursed together and her face looked fearful. "Ta'veren," her voice was a hiss. She placed both younglings back in their craddles and turned to the mother and father. "I will take the boy with me, you raise the girl right and good. She may be Aes Sedai, when she is ten send her to Tar Valon."  
  
The father paled as she took the boy and turned to leave. "No!" he said. "Not Zarkot, he is my son. I need a strong boy to help me with my work."  
  
The woman's face held no mercy or pity. "You have your daughter," she told him. "Jeriana will be worth ten boys her age. But when she is ten you send her to Tar Valon or Light mark me you'll regret it." With that she vanished into the night with Zarkot in her arms.  
  
Jeriana lay in her craddle and seemed to watch as the woman vanished with her twin. It seemed as though a part of her was going with that woman, with her brother. Yet she wasn't even an hour old, how could that be possible?  
  
((It may not be the best but it's just starting out. Give it a chance and it'll get better. Please review!)) 


	2. Ten Years Later For Zarkot

The young boy walked into the clearing and went straight to the largest tree there. He laid his hand on the smooth silver-white bark and sighed. He ran his hand over it and laid his face on it. "Hello Galad, how are you this day?" The tree must have replied somehow for the boy nodded. "It is well with me Galad, except for."  
  
"ZARKOT!" The white-haired boy winced, his dark violet eyes becoming depressed. He began to climb the tree and made it up the twenty feet to a large branch that was totally surrounded by golden leaves. Just as he hid a woman in a green cloak strode into the clearing, her pale green eyes flashing.  
  
"Zarkot, by the Light come down out of that cursed tree before you break your fool neck!" The woman stood at the foot of the tree, her hands on her hips and her lips pursed tightly.  
  
Zarkot covered his mouth before he could laugh. His teacher looked so funny down there. She always knew exactly where he was, usually up a tree, and would wait for hours on end for him to come down. And all the while she would keep the same expression on her face and lecture him the same length of time.  
  
Zarkot sighed and ran his hand over the smooth bark behind him and closed his eyes. "I know," he mumbled. "She's always mad at me for one thing or another, Galad, don't worry about this time."  
  
"I heard that boy!" The woman called up. "Now Zarkot come down or I'll make you!"  
  
Grumbling Zarkot said, "Good-bye Galad." Then he swung himself down and onto the ground with ease. He landed on his feet right in front of the woman in the green robe. "Hello teacher," he said respectfully.  
  
She pushed back her hood and a mischievous little wind came along and made her bright red hair dance about her face. It only made her look angrier and her eyes were flashing dangerously. "You're mad," Zarkot said matter-of- factly. "More mad then I've ever seen you."  
  
"How did you ever guess?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Why did you come here?"  
  
"Because Galad is here," Zarkot replied, pointing to the giant tree. "Galad is my tree."  
  
"You know what I meant Zarkot," she told him, her voice stern. "There is a time set aside for us all to see our trees, but you always run from your lessons and come here."  
  
Zarkot looked down and traced a line in the fresh brown earth with a bare toe. He had left his shoes at his room; he hated wearing them when he was out among the Grove and his tree. "I'm sorry teacher," he said quietly. "I really am."  
  
She sighed. "You always are Zarkot, until you do it again the next day. You don't even call me by my proper title. And I doubt you have learned much of anything that you've been taught."  
  
Zarkot brushed back a lock of his white hair and looked up. "Lyrenna Sedai I am sorry, for today at least. But Fetmyh Sedai was boring me! All she was doing was explaining the Five Powers. Fire, Earth, Air, Water and Spirit. She droned on and on and on. Me being the only male she ignored the fact I was there and said how great Air and Water were compared to Earth and Fire."  
  
Lyrenna sighed and cupped Zarkot's face in her hands. She had raised this boy since the day of his birth. She was like his mother, only he called her teacher because she had told him she wasn't his mother. "Earth is not a bad power," she told him gently. "Remember, I follow the Green Ajah and my main power is Earth, mixed with Water true enough but still."  
  
Zordak nodded. "I know teacher," he replied. "Earth is wonderful because it allows us to feel what the trees are better. Water is good because with it trees and plants can live, without it they wither and die. Air gives us breath, Fire gives us warmth and Spirit gives us healing and life."  
  
Lyrenna nodded. "Now please come back to your lessons Zordak, before they make me throw you out. The Red Ajah are watching your every move, just waiting for a sign."  
  
"A sign to gentle me," Zordak said, his voice angry. "But I will not go mad. I feel a calmness when I use the One Power. I feel one side that is wild and the other is calm, almost like saidar and saidan. Which can't happen because I'm male, but it's nice to feel."  
  
Lyrenna's face went pale and she began pulling Zordak towards the school. "Come back child," she said. "Back to your lessons and forget those thoughts. Don't let me catch you back out here at the wrong time again or I'll make you scrub the Green Ajah hall and the school."  
  
~~There's the next part. His sister will come in soon, don't worry if anyone cares. Thanks for the two reviews!!!~~ 


	3. Ten Years Later for Jeriana

((Sorry it took a while for the update but barely anyone reviews this story except for White-wolf so I didn't know if anyone would like it very much or not.))  
  
The young man kneeled down on the wide branch of the tree he was in. He pressed his back against it and peered out at the road that passed fifty spans away. It was the perfect ambush; no one would ever expect trouble from a tree. And in this area no one would ever suspect him, no one ever thought that danger would come to them in the Two Rivers.  
  
The man held a bow in his hand and he tensed when he heard light laughter. Not too much later a small girl and a young man rode into his line of sight. He smiled and placed an arrow to the string, drawing it back to his ear in a single, fluid motion.  
  
The girl and young man were still laughing when he released the string. With a strangled sound the man fell off of his horse. The girl let out a shriek and whirled her horse in the direction the arrow had come from. She fumbled at her belt and drew what looked to be a shortsword. With a wild yell she charged at the tree and the bowman knew that she had seen him.  
  
Swearing the bowman drew his dagger and dropped lightly to the ground. He held his dagger out and waited.  
  
The girl met him with her own blade held out straight. So he brought his dagger slashing down to block it. But she only grinned at him and reversed her blade, bringing it up to slice across his stomach.  
  
He fell to the ground, his brown eyes wide with shock.  
  
She kicked him in the side and said, "All right Timett. Time to get up and get going. If my mother or father found out that I stopped to play along the way they would have my hide. It's going to take us long enough to get there as it is."  
  
Timett stood up, rubbing the spot where her practice sword had smacked him. "All right," he grumbled. "But you know that they can't tell where we are, they don't even know when to expect us back!"  
  
She smiled and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Which means we have more time in the bigger cities rather then these little places that you so love to stop and play at." She walked over to the boy who had fallen off of his horse and helped him to his feet. "Come along Gerad, you heard what I said."  
  
He was a tall youth with dark brown hair and eyes just as dark. And he was covered with flour from Timett's arrow. He wiped the flour off of his face and said in a slow voice, "It wasn't my idea to stop. It was Timett's. He wanted to see who would win."  
  
"And it was her as always," Timett grumbled as he strapped his bow back across his back. He swung himself up onto his saddle and brushed his fine black hair back out of his eyes. "Just once I wish that I could get her. But she always rides on the far side of you and once I shoot you she's charging at me with that practice sword. She must need to hide behind you in order to not lose."  
  
The girl's eyes narrowed. "If you don't watch it next time it'll be my dagger I hold rather then my practice sword. Steel not wood."  
  
Timett snorted but kept his mouth shut. As much as he would have liked to deny it she was a much better fighter then he was. She even was a better shot with a bow then he. "Be careful of her Timett," Gerad warned with a smile on his face. "She's a fierce lioness that one."  
  
"She's a fierce lioness aye," Timett agreed. "Mayhap that's why she was left on the porch of the baker a few years past. I still remember that."  
  
A moment later Timett spat out a stream of bloody spit. He glared at the girl, whose fist had drops of blood on it and demanded, "Light, what was that for?"  
  
The girl glared at him with eyes that were teary. Her face was pale and drawn. "Never speak of that," she hissed, her voice low. "Never remind me that I do not belong here." She then wheeled her horse and galloped ahead of the boys.  
  
Timett started after her but Gerad stopped him. "Let her ride for a bit," he advised. "She's not had an easy life and she knows well that the baker and his wife are not her true parents."  
  
She rode for a good hundred yards before slowing up. Her breathing was ragged and hot tears flowed down her cheeks. "They left me," she sobbed. "They left me."  
  
Three years ago her parents had left her on the porch of a baker in the Two Rivers. She had been seven then to her ten years now. All they had left her was memories, her name and what she must do when she was ten. "Jeriana," she could remember her mother sobbing. "I'm sorry that we're leaving you, but we must, for your own safety my child. Remember when you're ten to go to Tar Valon. You must, else trouble will come."  
  
Then the memory was gone and the girl, Jeriana, was sitting on her horse in the middle of a dusty road. Her snow-white hair was tied back in a ponytail and her light violet or lilac as she called them, eyes were teary. She quickly rubbed the tears away with the back of her hand and waited for her friends to catch up with her.  
  
"Come on," she told them. "We have a long way to go and must reach Tar Valon as soon as we can."  
  
((And there's Jeriana.)) 


	4. Chapter Four

((Sorry for the delay, I had problems with my computer as readers of my other story well know.))  
  
Zarkot grimaced as he saw all the pots and pans waiting for him. But he rolled up his sleeves and began to scrub them. All novices of the White Tower had more chores to do then anything else. Being the only male novice the Tower had had in over an age he had more to do then many of the female novices did.  
  
"It's because I'm a man," he grumbled. "They are all afraid I'm going to bloody go mad. Well I won't. I will not! I never even feel the taint when I channel."  
  
"Silence!" the large women in charge of the kitchen commanded. "Novices are not to speak while they do their chores. Now get back to work!"  
  
Zarkot had to bite his tongue to keep from shooting back a reply. It had gotten him in trouble more then a few times. And many of those in charge here did not take kindly to him. And the Red Ajah always watched him. They were waiting to sink their claws into him. But the Amyrlin Seat would not relent. She would not allow them to gentle him. Yet.  
  
So long as he worked hard and did not go mad everything would be fine. Yet how would he be able to tell if he was going mad or not? Everyone around him seemed to think he would at the drop of a pin. In each of the classes where he channeled everything would go still until he successfully did something while remaining sane.  
  
He thought on going mad until he finished his chores and went to his small, closet-like room. "When I become an Accepted then they will not think me mad," he said to the ceiling. "They'll understand that I will not go mad. Even though they do not teach me right I will still pass."  
  
His teachers could not teach him correctly. He actually had to practice alone for hours and read dusty old volumes about men channeling to learn anything. In a way he was more intelligent then any of his classmates. They were simply taught; he had to work hard for every bit of it.  
  
He sat up after a few moments and took off his shoes. Then he darted out the door and headed for the Grove. The Grove where Galad was waiting, calling for him.  
  
"Lyrenna will skin me alive if she catches me out here again," Zarkot told himself as he ran. "With another lecture about being here at the right time."  
  
To his great surprise though when he reached the Grove Lyrenna was kneeling with her hands against the trunk of a great silver-leaf tree next to Zarkot's. "Galinna," she said. "I am sorry if I have not come often enough. Forgive me."  
  
"Galinna," Zarkot repeated. "Well I knew Lyrenna was a Tree-speaker. Which means she must have a tree." So he came up and put his own hands on the smooth bark of Galad. "Hello Galad."  
  
Lyrenna didn't scowl at him or threaten him. She simply said, "Hello Zarkot. Sit with me, we must talk."  
  
Zarkot obeyed, sitting cross-legged with his back against Galad's trunk. "What is it Lyrenna Sedai?" he asked. "What could make you not be wroth with me for visiting Galad again?"  
  
Lyrenna sighed and said, "I am always honest with you Zarkot. I told you it would be dangerous to be a male novice, a Tree-speaker at that. So I will be honest with you now." She took a deep breath. "You have a sister and she has just arrived. Her name is Jeriana and she is your twin."  
  
((Sorry it was so short.)) 


	5. Zarkot and Jeriana Meet

((Sorry starborn. But I couldn't update for a while. Here's the next part though.))  
  
Zarkot's violet eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "Close your mouth," Lyrenna told him. "Else you'll catch flies in it. Not to mention it is not very attractive."  
  
Zarkot obeyed automatically, snapping his mouth shut. But thoughts were whirling through his head. A sister? He had a sister? A twin sister at that! Suddenly something came to him, an image of a young woman. She was the same height as he was and her face closely resembled his own. She had long, snow-white hair tied back in a ponytail and was dressed in simple farmer's clothes. Her eyes were sharp and knowing; a light violet, no, lilac, in color.  
  
A name came to his head and fitted itself to the image. He shook his head and it vanished. "Jeriana?" he asked Lyrenna, his dark violet eyes wet. "Is my sister's name Jeriana?"  
  
Lyrenna's green eyes widened in shock and she nodded her head. "Yes," she replied. "Your twin's name is Jeriana. How did you know that?"  
  
Zarkot struggled to vocalize what he was feeling. "I know her," he replied. "That is all, I know her. Can I see her yet? When can I see my twin?"  
  
Lyrenna stood up and placed her arm around Zarkot's shoulders. "You can see her right now, if you come with me," she told him.  
  
Zarkot nodded and said, "Now I wish to see my sister. Please take me to her." They left the clearing together, Lyrenna's arm still draped on Zarkot's shoulder.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Jeriana paced back and forth in the small space that the room allowed her. When she had arrived and told one of the Accepted her name she had been whisked here, her friends had not. They had been left in the courtyard while she had been escorted to this small prison-like room. She had been in here for at least three hours now and was getting annoyed.  
  
A knock sounded on the door and a quiet, male voice asked, "May I come in?"  
  
Jeriana stiffened at the sound of that voice. It seemed like a voice she should know, but had never heard before. It resembled her own voice, music- like in tone but deeper and lighter at the same time. "Yes you may," she responded in a shaking voice. She felt something on the other side of that door. A small, empty part of her heart yearned to be filled.  
  
The door swung open and a boy stepped through, closing the door behind him. Jeriana gasped as she felt something click in her heart, something that had been missing her entire life. The boy gasped as well and his dark violet eyes widened in surprise.  
  
"Jeriana, right?" the boy asked. He tried to smile but he couldn't.  
  
Jeriana nodded and suddenly something flashed through her head. "Zarkot?" she asked. "Is that your name?"  
  
Zarkot nodded and brushed back a lock of his ear-length snow-white hair. He peered intently into Jeriana's lilac eyes, comparing their features. She did the same thing and a shiver of shock ran through her. This boy could have been her twin. He was her twin! She touched the area where her heart was, complete for the first time in her life. Then she through herself forward and hugged Zarkot tightly. He did the same thing and both began to cry.  
  
"You're my twin!" Jeriana exclaimed as she cried. "You were taken from me when we were born by a woman in green!"  
  
"How did you know that?" Lyrenna asked. She had come in when they were hugging. "You were not even a day old when that happened. How could you possibly remember?"  
  
"You're the woman in green!" Jeriana exclaimed. "You're the one who stole my brother from me!" Her lilac eyes blazed as she stepped forward. "You told mother and father to send me to Tar Valon when I was ten. You brought Zarkot to the White Tower. Did you tell my parents to abandon me as well?"  
  
Lyrenna shook her head. "No child I did not," she said in a sad voice. "But I knew they would do it."  
  
"Then why didn't you take us both?" Jeriana demanded, new tears flowing down her cheeks. "Then I would not have known them and it would not have hurt! It hurt enough my whole life, feeling an empty spot in my heart."  
  
"I am sorry for your pain Jeriana," Lyrenna said. "Truly I am. But I could not bring you to the Tower when I brought Zarkot. You had to go through what you did. It brought forth your power, revealed to you what you can do. If you hadn't gone through that then you wouldn't know what you know and couldn't do what you can."  
  
Jeriana's face paled and Zarkot, who was clutching his sister's arm, felt a tremor run through her. "What does she know?" he asked Lyrenna. When she didn't respond he turned to Jeriana and asked, "What do you know Jeriana? What can you do?"  
  
((End Jeriana and Zarkot's meeting. You're all going to flame me for this, aren't you?)) 


	6. Chapter Six

((At least you review consistently starborn. So I'll try to make this next one longer, but no promises.))  
  
"What can you do Jeriana?"  
  
Jeriana's lilac eyes went even wider in her extremely pale face. "I don't know," she told Zarkot quietly. "Well I know, I just cannot explain what it is. I do not know what it is called. I never have."  
  
Zarkot looked slightly disbelieving. "I can speak with trees," he said. "I am a tree-speaker. I know what I can do and what it is called. How can you not?"  
  
"You have lived in the White Tower your entire life," Jeriana said. "I have not. I know about farms and baking, not anything about saidar or saidin."  
  
"Oh," Zarkot said and he looked down. "I am sorry."  
  
Jeriana nodded and looked at Lyrenna. "Do you know what it is I can do, Aes Sedai?" Her eyes were begging.  
  
Lyrenna nodded and brushed back a lock of her red hair. "I know full well what it is you can do Jeriana."  
  
"Will you tell me?" Jeriana asked eagerly. "Will you teach me how to control it?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?" Jeriana demanded, crestfallen. "Somebody must!"  
  
"And somebody will, dear one," Lyrenna said soothingly, placing her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Just not me. I am a tree-speaker, not what you are. And you must find out what you are on your own."  
  
"And how am I supposed to do that? I have no idea where to begin!"  
  
"The library is usually a good place to start," Lyrenna said. "Look for anything that deals with an Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah who was called Jamina Telamon Sedai." She stood up and opened the door. "I will take you there then Zarkot and I must attend to our Trees. I have more to teach him."  
  
Neither of the twins said a word as Lyrenna led them to the library. When Zarkot and Lyrenna turned to leave however Jeriana asked, "I will see you later, right?"  
  
Zarkot smiled and said, "Of course you will, sister. You have saidin in you, therefore the Tower will take you as a novice and you'll see me all the time." Then he left with Lyrenna and Jeriana went up to a woman dressed in plain brown clothing.  
  
"Excuse me ma'am," Jeriana said. "But could you possibly direct me to books about a woman called Jamina Telamon?"  
  
The woman looked up and Jeriana realized instantly that she must be an Aes Sedai. Her face had that same look that Lyrenna's did. An Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah. ~How did I know that?~ She wondered to herself as the woman asked, "Do you know anything else about this person other then her name?"  
  
Jeriana nodded. "She was an Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah."  
  
"And what was her name again?" Jeriana got the feeling that this woman wasn't very attentive.  
  
"Jamina Telamon Sedai of the Yellow Ajah," Jeriana said slowly.  
  
The woman's face slowly drained of color and she asked, "Jamina Telamon?" Jeriana nodded. "F-follow me please." Jeriana did so, happy that she was at last getting results. After going through a few rows the woman stopped and pointed at a shelf. "Those books all deal with the Telamons. I am sure you'll find something about Jamina in there. If you wish to take a book speak with me and I'll put your name down." Then she was gone.  
  
Jeriana shrugged and began looking. The first book she saw was labeled: Jamina Telamon Sedai. "Well that wasn't too hard," she said as she sat down and began to read through the book. "Light!" she said after the first page, her face pale and drawn. "Lyrenna must have made a mistake of some sort!"  
  
But she knew that Lyrenna was right. Lyrenna had not lied, Jeriana always knew if someone was lying or not. Even a small un-truth was an ugly black lie to her. So she continued reading, wishing she had never come:  
  
~Jamina Telamon was born to Lews Therin Telamon's wife six years before his madness took him. She was the apple of his eye, he loved nothing more then he did his small, innocent little daughter.  
  
As Jamina grew she proved to be the most beautiful creature anyone had ever seen. Her eyes were the color of lilacs and were always bright. Her hair was long and a marvelous silver-gold color, as she grew older. When she had been born, and until she turned sixteen, her hair had been the color of snow. Then on her sixteenth birthday it turned to a marvelous silver-gold.  
  
When her father went mad Jamina was far away with her aunt Kimin. When it happened everyone believed that every single person who had even a drop of Lews blood was slaughtered, anyone that he loved was killed. But that was not wholly true.  
  
For Jamina lived on. Some part of Lews mind remained intact and he saved his small daughter from the slaughter. But her aunt was killed and Jamina was left an orphan in the world.  
  
A woman known as Terri Sedai found young Jamina crying over the body of her dead aunt. Her heart took pity upon the small child and she brought her with her to the White Tower. There, Jamina was raised, there it was discovered that she could channel the One Power. Not only that, she had a special power that none had ever heard of, much less seen.  
  
Jamina could tell lies from truth without thinking about it. When she first met a person she knew their name, age, family and title; if any. If she concentrated upon a question the answer would always come to her. The true answer would always come. As she grew older she also found that she could Heal very well. But she could only Heal those who had never lied to her. If someone had told her a lie then her Healing power would falter and not work.  
  
One of her other Talents, which she revealed to only a few, was her ability to see bits and pieces of the future. When this happened she could be found in her room, sobbing on her bed. The future wasn't always bad, but it hurt when it happened randomly and worse when she tried to force it.  
  
The special Talent that Jamina possessed came to be known as truth-seeing and many called her a truth-seer. Whenever anyone asked her what it was like being a truth-ser she would respond with, "It is a burden to me and I pray that no one ever has to bear the weight that I do right now."  
  
When Jamina was sixteen she was raised up to Accepted. Then, at the age of twenty-three she was raised up to be an Aes Sedai. She chose the Yellow Ajah, because she loved to Heal so much, even though she could not Heal everyone.  
  
After studying for an additional ten years at the White Tower Jamina left to find out more about the world she had always read about. The only person who went with her was her Warder, Telkhek. The last place they were seen was heading for where Manetheron once was.  
  
One rumor says that Jamina married Telkhek and they had a single child. But that is only a rumor, and no one truly knows what happened to Jamina or Telkhek.  
  
The belief of the Brown Ajah, after extensive studying, determined that Jamina's Talents were hereditary and only those of her bloodline could possibly have it. They believe that she had those Talents because her father was Lews Therin Telamon, the Dragon. Yet the Brown Sisters do not know for sure whether it is truly hereditary or not; being as no one else has ever had the talents of a truth-seer.~  
  
Jeriana closed the book with trembling hands and leaned back against the shelf. The Talents of a truth-seer, as the book put it, described a few of the things that Jeriana had done in the past. But it left out one that she thought was quite important.  
  
"Not possible," she said. "None of this book could even possibly refer to reality. She just happened to have the same last name as the daughter of the Dragon, happened to look like her and happened to be the same age."  
  
Thoughts and feelings flashed through her and she suddenly saw a woman who looked like her, only older and with the agelessness of an Aes Sedai. Beside her was a tall, strong man with black hair and calm, deep blue eyes. In the arms of the woman, who had silver-gold hair, was a small baby.  
  
Thoughts and feelings suddenly stopped when a hand rested upon Jeriana's shoulder. She realized she had been holding her breath and let it out slowly. "Are you all right Jeriana?"  
  
She looked up into a pair of the wisest green eyes she had ever seen. Her face was kind and she looked old somehow, and yet she didn't. Her hair was like yellow-gold and not touched by gray. She was also wearing a stole that had stripes of each Ajah color on them and a gold serpent ring on her right hand.  
  
"Yes I am fine," Jeriana replied. "Are you the Amyrlin Seat?"  
  
The woman nodded and said, "Yes I am Jeriana. And are you the twin sister of Zarkot?" Jeriana nodded. "Good, then will you please come with me?" Jeriana stood up and nodded again. Then she followed the Amyrlin out of the library, forgetting completely about the book that she still clutched.  
  
((There's a longer update for you starborn. Hope that it is long enough!)) 


	7. Jeriana Meets Liandrin

((Yeah that chapter was pretty long wasn't it? Do any of you know the names of the thirteen Black Ajah who went with Liandrin AND their Ajah? I know a few but can't remember them all. I'd greatly appreciate the help.))  
  
After following the Amyrlin Seat for a few minutes awe settled in on Jeriana. The Amyrlin Seat herself had gotten her out of the library and needed to speak with her. Along with the awe came other feelings. Jeriana knew the name of the Amyrlin, her likes, her dislikes, her family, why she was here, what her Ajah had been, and it kept coming. Her lilac eyes went wide and she placed her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming. Finally the flood of information stopped and she let out a sigh of relief.  
  
The Amyrlin led her through a door then told her to sit down. She sat down right across from her. "Hello Jeriana," she said with a smile and Jeriana relaxed. "I am glad to finally meet you. I knew Zarkot had a sister I just never knew when I would be able to meet you."  
  
Jeriana nodded. "I came to the White Tower at the age of ten, just as I was told too. Could you tell me why I am here?"  
  
"You know why you are here Jeriana," the Amyrlin said sternly. "You know what you can do and I see that you've already read the book."  
  
"Is it true?" Jeriana asked. "Is it true that a single child escaped the slaying off all the Dragon's loved and blood?"  
  
The Amyrlin sighed and nodded her head. "It is true, though only a rare few know it. Know those people are you, me, Lyrenna and maybe one or two of the Brown sisters."  
  
"Well is it true that I am a Telamon?" Jeriana demanded. "Is it true that what I do is called truth-seeing? Am I to be a truth-seer?"  
  
The Amyrlin sighed again then took Jeriana's hands. "Understand this Jeriana," she said. "You are ta'veren. Lyrenna knew this when you were born. That is why she took Zarkot and told you to come in ten years. I can feel the One Power inside you. You know what you are, even without the titles. You know what you do."  
  
Jeriana shook her head and leaned back. "Yes Amyrlin. But am I here to train? I thought novices had to be a certain age and I most certainly am not the correct age."  
  
"Neither was your brother, but he became a novice last winter. It is in your blood, Jeriana. You will become a novice tomorrow. It will not be easy but you will learn. You will learn how to harness the Power. Your chores will be difficult but when you become an Accepted they will lessen a bit."  
  
There was a knock on the door and Lyrenna came in. "Mother," she said with a bow. "I see you have already found Jeriana. How do you find her?"  
  
"I find her well enough, daughter," the Amyrlin replied. "She is strong and her Talent is great. But she needs to learn to control it. She was using it when I walked in and again on the way here."  
  
"I cannot help it!" Jeriana burst out. "It works like that, in small bursts and flits. It just happens."  
  
Both of the Aes Sedai turned to look at her and she felt herself shrinking. "Liandrin!" Lyrenna called suddenly, making Jeriana jump. A girl about Jeriana's age walked in. She had honey-blond hair and perfectly blue eyes. She reminded Jeriana of a porcelain doll. "Liandrin this is Jeriana, Jeriana this is Liandrin. Liandrin is going to show you to your room, the empty one right next to yours, okay Liandrin?"  
  
Liandrin nodded and smiled at Jeriana. "It will be my pleasure Lyrenna Sedai," she said as she reached forward and clasped Jeriana's hand with her own small one. "Come with me Jeriana and I will show you."  
  
Jeriana nodded to the Amyrlin and Lyrenna before allowing Liandrin to drag her out of the room. "I am a novice as well Jeriana," Liandrin said as they walked down the hall. Jeriana nodded her head, she was concentrating on keeping her thoughts her own. She did not want to know everything about this blond girl, she wanted to learn it on her own from the girl's own mouth.  
  
But she felt something in Lyrenna suddenly, a soft glow almost that felt like saidar. Curious she turned her thoughts to that, her control over her Talent vanishing as quickly as her head turned. Suddenly Jeriana was assaulted by such raw emotions that she let out a blood-curdling scream. Hate, anger, fear, jealously, and rage roared through her mind. As the emotions began to overwhelm her she felt herself release Liandrin's hand and fall to the ground, clutching her head and screaming. Through the raw emotions she felt something that made her screams stop for a second, hope and love. Then the other emotions swept it up and Jeriana felt herself vanish in the torrent of pain and hate. 


	8. A New Friend

Zarkot looked up from scrubbing the pots when he heard Lyrenna call his name. "Yes teacher?" he asked.  
  
Lyrenna looked down at him and said, "Wash off your arms and follow me." Zarkot hurried to obey, getting out of chores was not an everyday occurrence. He followed her to the Healing center, a confused look on his face.  
  
"Why are we here?" he asked as Lyrenna led him to one of the beds. She motioned down at the figure lying in the bed and Zarkot's own eyes went wide. "What happened to her?" he asked. "What is wrong?"  
  
Lyrenna's green eyes were suddenly stern as she turned her gaze upon a honey-blond girl with lowered eyes sitting beside Jeriana's bed. "Why don't you tell him what happened, Liandrin?" she said.  
  
Liandrin stared down at her hands then shook her head. "I cannot," she said. She did not even look up at the two, she didn't even know who they were. She knew what she had done. Or at least, she thought she did. But she would speak with Jeriana before she was sure enough to tell an Aes Sedai.  
  
"She'll be fine," Lyrenna told Zarkot. "I just wanted to let you know what had happened to her. She should be up in a few hours. You can visit her then outside in the Gardens. Now go back to your chores."  
  
With a sigh and glare for Liandrin Zarkot turned and left. He wanted to know what would happen but from what he knew of Liandrin she would never speak.  
  
Once Zarkot was gone Lyrenna sat down opposite of Liandrin and took Jeriana's hand. She closed her eyes and tried again to Heal the girl. But it was as if a wall was blocking her, shifting as she did, not allowing the power of saidar to flow through.  
  
Lyrenna released Jeriana's hand and stood up. "Will you still not say what you have done Liandrin? Was it even you?" The girl made no sign that she had even heard Lyrenna speak. Lyrenna shook her head and left the room, she had other matters to attend to.  
  
Once Lyrenna was gone Liandrin's head snapped up. "Come on Jeriana," she whispered urgently. "You have to snap out of it. I did not mean to do whatever I did."  
  
Liandrin felt the hand she was holding move and her dark brown eyes widened with hope. Sure enough Jeriana's eyes flickered open to reveal confused lilac orbs. "Where am I?" she asked Liandrin. "How did I get here?"  
  
Liandrin told her. "What happened?" she asked the white-haired girl. "Why did you faint like that?"  
  
Jeriana looked at her hands and then back up to Liandrin's eyes. "I have a special Talent," she said slowly. "I can feel people's emotions clear enough as though they were my own. I felt jealousy, rage, and grief in you so strongly that it hurt me. I have never had emotions that strong. A mere touch could not relay all that to me."  
  
"I touched your mind," Liandrin said softly. "That must be how you felt so strongly. I touched your mind, that is my Talent that I am told I must not use, ever."  
  
Jeriana's face was calm and she said, "Please never do that to me again." Her voice was trembling. "I never want to feel emotion that raw and unchecked from another human for as long as I live."  
  
Liandrin nodded her head. "I would never have done that if I had known it would have such an effect on you."  
  
Jeriana smiled weakly. "It is good to know that. Now, how about we forget about it? That way we can be friends."  
  
Liandrin, who had never before had a friend, smiled back and agreed. "Are you up to classes?" she asked. "Because I am sure that the Amyrlin will be pleased to know you are starting so soon."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
((Sorry this one was so short but I couldn't add onto it. Yes, yes, yes. Liandrin and Jeriana are going to be the best of friends. Those who don't like it, stop reading because you won't like what happens in the next chapter either.)) 


	9. Six Years Later

((Sorry again for the last chapter being so short. But well, I had to end that period of time and skip ahead about... six years. So here it goes, this is when Jeriana and Zarkot are both sixteen, along with their friends.  
  
P.S.- I don't care if ages are right according to the book because they aren't right to start with in MY story. This is just the way I decided to make things because, well, I wanted too. It is NOT set in the AOL, it's multiple years before Rand is discovered. Yes it is the Liandrin from the series and I changed her powers for a small bit, because I felt like it. Why they tolerate Zarkot will be explained soon, okay?))  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Wheel of Time series. Jeriana, Zarkot, Lyrenna and a few others are my own personnel characters dragged out of my own mind.  
  
~*~*Six years later*~*~  
  
Jeriana laughed as she flung a fist-sized ball of Fire at Liandrin. The other's girl mouth twisted as she extinguished it with Water. Jeriana quickly weaved together bonds of Air and wrapped Liandrin in them. The other girl cut them with a slice of Fire and dropped to the ground.  
  
"That is enough!" a commanding voice called. Both girls instantly stiffened as bonds of Air wrapped around them, along with shields so that they couldn't break free. "I thought I had made it perfectly clear to the both of you that if I ever caught you doing this again I would strap you then set you to chores for better then a month!"  
  
Jeriana and Liandrin both had the grace to look extremely shamefaced. Sierin Vayu, the Amyrlin Seat, usually had no need to speak to mere novices. "We are sorry, mother," the girls chimed together.  
  
Sierin sighed but her facial expression did not change. "I have come to speak with the both of you," she said. "The Tower has decided that it is high time you are raised up to Accepted." Both girls breath caught in their throat and they exchanged gleeful looks. "Come to my chambers after classes and I will instruct you on what to do. By the way, you might want to hurry along to class before you're late again."  
  
Liandrin and Jeriana looked at each other, then bolted for the door. They both ran the whole way to their class and arrived winded, but on time. They slid into their seats just as the instructor, Temin Sedai of the Yellow Ajah, walked in.  
  
"You two were almost late," a short girl with dark hair and bright blue eyes set in a foxlike face said to them. She was grinning broadly. "Were you battling again?"  
  
Jeriana nodded, but kept her eyes to the front. This was her favorite class, here they learned about Healing. It was a mostly empty class because not many had the Talent for healing. Jeriana and her friends all seemed too.  
  
There was Temaile Kinderode, the girl who had first spoken to them, Alviarin Freidhen, Moiraine Damodred, and Chesmal Emery. Well there were a few more in the class, those ones were her friends though.  
  
At the end of class Temaile pestered Jeriana about the battle. "Who won?" she asked.  
  
"Neither of us," Jeriana replied, lilac eyes distant. She brushed back a lock of her silver-gold hair and said, "Sierin Vayu walked in on us and sent us to class. After telling us that we are to be raised to Accepted!"  
  
"As am I," Alviarin said from Jeriana's other side. "I was told by the Keeper only this morning."  
  
Temaile grinned broadly, her eyes dancing and said, "I am to be Accepted as well! Moiraine, Jeaine, Ispan, and Marillin are as well. We all must go to the Amyrlin's study after classes to hear what we are to do. I don't know if Chesmal is however, I wasn't with her for chores this morning."  
  
Chesmal nodded. "Yes I am to be an Accepted," she said in her soft, cool voice. "While I was helping at the Healing room, with Rianna, we were both told to go to the Amyrlin's study tonight after classes." Her dark hair was slightly unruly as a result of her weavings of Air.  
  
"So we all are becoming Accepted at the same time," Liandrin said. "Well, within days of each other."  
  
Moiraine's dark eyes were distant when she said, "That one girl, Mierin, she is to be Accepted as well."  
  
They all fell silent at that. Mierin had come to the Tower just under two years before. Yet she was already becoming Accepted. She was the most beautiful girl in the Tower; her hair was long and night black with silver specks in her hair. The white novice dresses she wore fit her perfectly. Every single girl in the Tower, minus Jeriana, was jealous of her great beauty. Jeriana matched her strive for strive.  
  
"Oh well," Jeriana said. "She can be an Accepted if she is powerful enough. Does anyone know about Zarkot?"  
  
All heads turned to look at Alviarin, who blushed beneath her pale skin. Everyone knew that Alviarin and Zarkot were together, they had both gotten extra chores multiple times for being caught kissing, while skipping lessons. "I do not know," the girl admitted. "I have not seen him since yesterday."  
  
"What are you doing wandering the halls?" someone demanded from behind them. On instinct they all stopped moving and turned. They all expected an Aes Sedai bearing down on them, lecturing for being out and about, talking, rather then working. All Aes Sedai thought they were always getting into some sort of mischief, because they usually were. But this time they weren't doing anything.  
  
"You should all be scrubbing the floors in the kitchens!" the person continued. She was wearing a heavy cloak so they could not see her face. But Jeriana recognized the voice, at least, she thought she did and she was ready to lash her with the Power. "Or pulling weeds from the gardens! Get to work now or I'll haul you to the Amyrlin by your ears!"  
  
The figure stumbled when Jeriana tied off a thread of Air around her feet and the hood flew off to reveal a head of dark blond hair with a swan-like neck and coppery skin. She was laughing at the expressions on her friends' faces. "It is so much fun to do that!" she declared, pale eyes sparkling.  
  
"Jeaine Caide!" Tieren Sedai called from the hallway she had just come out of. "What are you doing, acting like an Aes Sedai?" Her voice was full of outrage; it was the fifth time she had caught Jeaine doing such a thing. Jeaine blushed slightly before it vanished and she straightened up. She shed the dark cloak and bowed. "Don't you be smart with me, young lady," Tieren said. "You're still a novice and I intend to see you scrubbing the floors of the Tower until tonight. Do you understand me?"  
  
"Yes Tieren Sedai," Jeaine replied, wincing slightly. She hated scrubbing floors more then anything and Tieren knew that. "I will see you all tonight," she said to the others as Tieren grabbed her arm and dragged her away, lecturing.  
  
The girls all waited until Tieren was beyond hearing before they began to laugh. "What is so funny?" a calm, cool voice asked from behind them.  
  
"You missed it Rianna," Jeriana said, turning to face the black-haired girl. "Jeaine was imitating an Aes Sedai again and Tieren Sedai caught her, again."  
  
Rianna sighed. "Nothing new about that then. I have heard we are all to become Accepted." She didn't ask but Jeriana heard the question.  
  
"Yes we all are," Jeriana said. "We were all informed this morning of it. Even Jeaine is to be one."  
  
Temaile grinned. "Even though Jeaine is a prankster at time she still has quite a bit of potential."  
  
"While we've been talking," Alviarin said. "Time has been going and we still need to get to class!"  
  
((That's the end of this chapter. I just wanted to introduce her friends. Why Zarkot isn't gentled is in the NEXT chapter.)) 


	10. Why Zakot Isn't Gentled

((Here is what a lot of you were obviously waiting for and wondering about. The Reason why the Tower did not gentle Zarkot. I don't care if you people do not like the fact that he can channel or not.he can.))  
  
Sierin Vayu looked up as the Keeper said, "Lyrenna Sedai to see you, Mother."  
  
"Thank you," Sierin said. "You may leave us." The woman's face twisted, she hated leaving the Amyrlin alone, but she did as she bid. "So Lyrenna," Sierin said, looking down at the paper. "What is it this time?"  
  
"The Reds are pestering me about Zarkot again," Lyrenna said, her green eyes angry. "They are trying to gentle him again! That is the fifth time in two years! You must do something about it."  
  
Sierin's dark eyes went wide and she looked up. "This is not good," she said. "For sixteen years we have managed to keep him here and they have argued but have not tried to interfere. Now the Reds are. What do we do?"  
  
Lyrenna's eyes were still angry when she said, "Is there any other choice, Mother?"  
  
Sierin's eyes went even wider. "You want to actually tell them?" she demanded. "What do you wish to happen? They will not understand."  
  
"Not all of them," Lyrenna said. "That would be absolute madness. Only one Sitter for each Ajah should be told."  
  
Sierin sighed and passed a hand over her eyes. "Fine then Lyrenna," she said. "The Sitters will be called together and we will tell them why Zarkot cannot be gentled. We will tell them of it within the hour. Go and inform them."  
  
Lyrenna bowed and left.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
An hour later Sierin walked into her room to see the faces of each main Sitter of each Ajah. Blue, Red, Green, Brown, White, Yellow and Red. Lyrenna was there as well, making two Greens.  
  
Sierin said, "Lyrenna has told you why you were called here. To discuss this young man." She waved her hand and the image of Zarkot appeared in the center of them. "A man who can channel. I know many of you fear this and stay as far from him as possible. Several of you probably wish more then anything that he was gentled."  
  
"Why don't we gentle him, mother?" the Red Sitter, Oein, asked. "He is a male who can channel. He will go mad from touching saidin. I am surprised he is not already."  
  
"He will not go mad anytime soon," Lyrenna said firmly. "Zarkot's mind is as sane as yours. His case is special, he has been channeling since the age of ten, along with his sister, Jeriana."  
  
"That is unusual in itself," the Brown Sitter, Aglen, said. "I have been trying to determine exactly why those two were able to channel at such a young age, along with that other girl, Liandrin. It is most unusual."  
  
"We should never have allowed Zarkot to learn here," Oein said hotly. "A male who can channel is a danger to us all."  
  
"Zarkot lived here since he was a babe," Silin, the Yellow Sitter, said, "Putting him out of the Tower would have been indecent of us. Besides, what harm has he done to us? I have felt his mind many times and there is not even a bit of madness there."  
  
"Why don't we allow the Amyrlin to tell us why exactly he is here?" suggested Meria, the White Sitter, coolly. "I am sure she will tell us all that she believes we need to know."  
  
Sierin nodded gratefully to Meria. "Zarkot cannot be gentled because he is a very important thread in the Pattern. He and his sister are both ta'veren."  
  
There was a collective silence. Then Oein said, "You cannot possibly believe that this boy is... The Dragon Reborn?"  
  
"No," Sierin said, shaking her head. "Zarkot is most definitely not the Dragon Reborn. But he is a descendant of none other then Lews Therin Telamon."  
  
Opposite of a moment before the room broke into loud yells as people expressed their opinions on that. "Impossible." "Outrageous!" "How can that be?" Were a few of the things flying around.  
  
Sierin held up her hand and after a few minutes quiet resumed. "I know that it is hard to believe, daughters. But it is true. One small child, Jamina Telamon, escaped the wrath of her father. We believe that her aunt shielded her body. The aunt died, but Jamina survived. She had the Talent called truth seeing. She trained at the White Tower and became Yellow Ajah. Jeriana is the exact replica of Jamina, down to her hair changing from snow- white to silver-gold. The eyes are the same shade of lilac and she has the same Talent. They are the descendants of Lews Therin Telamon, and their ability to channel is essential."  
  
Aglen looked thoughtful. "That is an interesting subject to study," she said. "Two descendants of Lews Therin. Does this truth-seeing Talent come up often?"  
  
"This is no time to worry about Talents," Oein snapped. "What we have to worry about is what to do with Zarkot, and with Jeriana."  
  
"Jeriana is no danger at all," Silin protested. "The girl has a Talent for Healing that I have never seen, Chesmal doesn't even have as much of a passion for it."  
  
"Neither child is a threat!" Lyrenna said. "They are both very strong in the One Power. Each has a special Talent as well. Zarkot is a tree-speaker and Jeriana is a truth-seer. We should just let them rise to Accepted and then Aes Sedai when they are ready."  
  
"We came together," the Blue Sitter, Beyel, said. "To discuss whether or not to gentle the boy, Zarkot. I believe that if we put it to a vote we can discuss the other issues. We should just get it out of the way."  
  
Sierin smiled at Beyel. "That is a very good idea, Beyel. Now, raise your hands if you believe that Zarkot should be gentled."  
  
Looking around the room Sierin and Lyrenna were both shocked, but pleased, to note that not a single hand was in the air. Oein looked grumpy about her decision but kept her hands tucked firmly in her sleeves.  
  
"Well that is settled," Sierin said, standing up. The others stood with her. "Now I do not want to hear another word of complaint about Zarkot. And tell no one, none of your Ajah or otherwise, what has passed between us today. If I find out that you have..." Her gray eyes could have frozen boiling water. "You will wish you never heard of the Tower."  
  
They all stood and filed out. Except for Silin, Lyrenna, and Aglen. Silin asked, "May I preside over Jeriana's raising to Accepted, mother? I would be greatly honored to do so."  
  
Sierin nodded. "You may preside over her raising Silin. Now go get ready for it. She will be taking it in just over an hour." Silin bowed and hurried out the door. "I suppose you wish to preside over Zarkot's raising?" Sierin asked Lyrenna, who nodded. "You may do that as well. Go get ready, he will be going directly after Jeriana."  
  
Lyrenna bowed and left. "And what would you like Aglen?"  
  
Aglen bowed and said, "Permission to take time to study Jeriana's unique Talent. I have never heard of truth seeing, except for in one book. And that book vanished the same day that Jeriana came. It was about a Yellow called Jamina now that I think of it."  
  
Sierin thought for a moment then said, "You may work with her for two hours four days a week. No more, as an Accepted she has many classes to take. You are dismissed."  
  
Aglen bowed and said, "Thank you, mother." She left, leaving Sierin alone to await the young novices who would soon be Accepted to come. 


	11. Ready?

((Love the new name starborn (starbiddy). Okay, ckk, that chapter was just to show how good Jeriana was with a sword. It'll come into play later. She's good with a bow too. Hope the whole why Zarkot isn't gentled makes sense.))  
  
Jeriana rubbed nervous hands on her novice white dress as she opened the door of her bedroom. Standing outside were Liandrin, Temaile, Chesmal, Alviarin, Moiraine, Ispan, Marillin, and Rianna. "Where is Jeaine and Zarkot?" she asked as they started down the hall, her voice was nervous. Only Alviarin and Rianna had a semblance of calm, but even they were paler then normal.  
  
"Jeaine is going to meet us there," Temaile said, her voice shaking. "She was being taught a lesson by Ginger Sedai's office. For behaving as an Aes Sedai again."  
  
"Zarkot is already there," Alviarin, said, no trace of nerves in her voice. "He was called down earlier then we were."  
  
They passed by a few Accepted who smiled down at them. Jeriana felt her back stiffen and wiped away traces of fear, the smiles had more then a trace of pity in them. "We'll get through this," she whispered to Liandrin. The other girl nodded and her face firmed with determination, as did the others. The Amyrlin's study was directly in front of them.  
  
Liandrin clutched Jeriana's right hand tightly and Alviarin gripped her left hand. The Keeper smiled at them. "Go right on in, she is waiting for you." Jeriana managed to nod before she opened the door and walked in, Liandrin and Alviarin on her sides.  
  
Standing in front of the Amyrlin's desk were Zarkot, Mierin, and Jeaine. Jeaine hand one hand behind her back and was rubbing her bottom, obviously Ginger had not been very kind. "Ah," Sierin Vayu said. "I see the rest of you have arrived. Good, well then listen up. Because I'm only going to say it once."  
  
"You are all about to be given the option to take the test required to become an Accepted of the White Tower. You can decide, right now, not to take it and you will have two more chances. If you refuse a third time you will be turned out with enough money to survive for a year and a day. If, while going through the Test, you decide to quit then you are turned out of the Tower with the clothes on your back and some money. If you are turned out then you may never return. Do you all still wish to take the Test?"  
  
Jeriana swallowed hard and looked over at Liandrin and Temaile. Both girls wore determination on their faces. She looked over at Alviarin and Rianna, both had cool, calm looks. "We will still take the Test, mother," every last one of them said.  
  
Sierin smiled and said," Jeriana you may go down now. Zarkot you are next."  
  
Jeriana nodded and squeezed her friends' hands tightly as she left. This is it, she thought as she walked quickly down the stairs. I am about to become an Accepted!  
  
((Well, the Accepted thing for Jeriana takes place in the next chapter. Do you want to see Zarkot's as well? How about Liandrin's, Jeaine's, Temaile's, Chesmal's, Rianna's, Marillin's, etc.?)) 


	12. Jeriana's Accepted Ceremony

((Okay.I'll do four Accepted chapters. I know that may be a little much but I am definitely doing Jeriana's and Zarkot's...along with two of the others. Why don't you tell me which two you would like to see? By the by I forgot to mention Amico in the last chapter...she's there with all of the others. If the Accepted ceremony is a little wrong in how it goes correct me and I'll make sure the other ones are right.  
  
Oh yeah, ~word~ means it's a though. Kay?))  
  
Jeriana had small drops of sweat trailing down her face as she reached the room she was heading to. She took a deep breath, her hand resting on the door, and wiped away the sweat. The last thing she would do was look afraid in front of the Aes Sedai who were presiding over her ceremony!  
  
A breath of cold air struck her and she shivered. The room was dark, lit only by a few candles. Silin stood there, her face slightly grave but a smile was in her pale eyes. "Come forward Jeriana," she intoned solemnly. Then she repeated basically the same thing as Sierin had.  
  
Jeriana snapped back to present and realized that Silin was eyeing her sternly. "I said that you must take off your clothes Jeriana. You cannot go in clothed." Blushing Jeriana hurriedly stripped and placed her clothing on the stool. Then she stepped forward and Silin said, "The first doorway is for what was. The way back will come but once, be strong and steadfast."  
  
Jeriana nodded and stepped through the first doorway.  
  
Jeriana frowned as she found herself floating in the sky. "I thought this was supposed to be like reality," she said to herself. Then, below her, she saw someone walking towards a dark house. She recognized that person! It was a young Liandrin, with her honey-blond braids and doll's face she could never be mistaken.  
  
Jeriana managed to get herself to the ground and followed after her friend. Once inside the house Liandrin called, "I have come, I know what you are! Come, speak with me. I wish to join with you."  
  
Jeriana frowned, what was she talking about? Then she heard something: ~The way back will come but once, be strong and steadfast.~ She shrugged it off though; a woman clothed in all black had walked out of the shadows.  
  
"What do you want child?" the woman asked. "Oh, I see, you can channel, yes?"  
  
"Yes I can channel," Liandrin boasted. "I am leaving for the White Tower in a week. But before I go I have decided to seek out the Black Ajah and join with them."  
  
Jeriana practically screamed but held her voice in check. No! Liandrin could not have done this; this was a lie, a lie!!! ~The way back will come..~ She cut the thought off ruthlessly, she had to stop Liandrin from doing this, she had to save her friend!  
  
The woman cackled. "Child you do not know what you speak of," she said. "Go back to your home and play with dolls. The Black Ajah is not real."  
  
Liandrin's pretty face twisted and her rosebud mouth tightened. Jeriana saw the glow of saidar surround her. The woman was suddenly turning around and her eyes were wide. "That was good child," she said. "Almost good enough to work. Train up your mind a little more though, before you go bothering those you believe are Black Ajah!"  
  
Liandrin smiled, all traces of tension gone from her face. "You are Black Ajah," she said in a satisfactory tone that Jeriana knew well. "And you will allow me to join you."  
  
~The way back will come...be steadfast and strong.~ It was fainter this time but Jeriana felt a tickle in the back of her mind. Then something shimmered from beside her. It was a stone circle that she recognized. "I have to go through there," she thought. "To the White Tower. But...Liandrin."  
  
Jeriana turned her head back to Liandrin and saw that the girl was listening to the woman speak. "The Great Lord of the Dark promises us power and wealth beyond our wants and desires."  
  
"Yes!" Liandrin cried. "I will serve the Great Lord of the Dark and be faithful to him!"  
  
"NO!" Jeriana cried out. "Liandrin no!" She turned her head back and saw that the stone circle was fading. ~This isn't real!~ "Liandrin, please!" The honey-haired girl turned around and her eyes settled on Jeriana.  
  
There were tears in Liandrin's large brown eyes. She held out hands. Jeriana saw a split in her friend then. Half of her wanted the Dark One, half of her wanted the Light. "Help me Jeriana," the Light half begged. "Oh Light please help me!"  
  
Sobbing Jeriana turned to see the stone circle fading even more rapidly. "I'm sorry Liandrin," she said as she jumped through it. "Oh Light burn me I'm sorry!"  
  
Cold water rushed over her body as she shook and cried. "You are cleansed from your past life. You come to us clean of all misdeeds and guilt. The next circle represents the present. The way back will come but once, be strong and steadfast." Silin's voice had a slight tremble in it.  
  
Jeriana looked up at her, lilac eyes full of pain and tears. "Why?" she asked. "Why must I do this?"  
  
Silin did not answer her question. "Go through the next circle or stop," she said. Jeriana wiped her eyes and nodded. Then she ran through the next circle..  
  
And found herself standing in the library of the White Tower. She had the dress of an Accepted on and was reading a book. ~The way will come but once, be strong and steadfast.~ Jeriana nodded, she had heard things like that before and they always meant something. She just wasn't sure what this one meant.  
  
"Jeriana!" Jeriana turned to see a fellow Accepted, Liandrin to be exact, come running up to her. Liandrin collapsed at her feet, breathing heavily as though she had run a long way.  
  
Jeriana kneeled down and took her friend's hand. "What is it Liandrin?" she asked. "What is wrong?"  
  
Liandrin caught her breath and said, "They've decided to gentle Zarkot!" Her brown eyes were wide and her face was pale. "They're going to do it right now!"  
  
Jeriana jumped up and demanded, "Where are they? Where is he Liandrin!"  
  
"You know where," Liandrin said softly. "In the public court. That is where gentling takes place. Jeriana, you cannot help him."  
  
Jeriana ignored that and took off running. She heard Liandrin following behind her. ~The way will come but once.~ That voice again! It was familiar but of no importance at the moment, Zarkot was going to be cut off from the One Power!  
  
Suddenly the air around her froze and she couldn't move. "Release me!" she demanded. "Let me go right now!"  
  
"I cannot do that Jeriana," Chesmal said calmly. She had come out of her room as Jeriana and Liandrin ran by. "You will get yourself stilled if you do what I know you are planning on doing."  
  
Jeriana struggled then went limp. "What about Alviarin?" she demanded. "Where is she?"  
  
"Right here," Alviarin said. "They bound me as well." Her eyes were burning with fury but her face was calm. "They will not let me save him!"  
  
Jeriana glared at Liandrin and Chesmal. Then she lashed out with glass- sharp strands of Air that severed the bonds that held herself and Alviarin. She then wrapped Liandrin in a shield that would block her from using saidar. She also felt Alviarin wrap up Chesmal.  
  
"I'm sorry for doing this," Jeriana said to Liandrin as she tied the shield off. "But I must save my brother at all costs." ~The way will come~ She cut that thought off. Right now she had no time for her hearings that everyone thought were so important. Right now nothing mattered but saving Zarkot.  
  
She took off and felt Alviarin at her side. "What are we going to do?" she asked.  
  
"I do not know," Alviarin replied. For once Jeriana saw unease and fear on her friends' face. "But we must do something."  
  
They both rounded the corner into the public court. There stood the Amyrlin Seat ~Sierin Vayu is the Amyrlin!~ Jeriana frowned, Sierin Vayu had been replaced a year ago. She touched her head as thoughts flashed through but she managed to shake them off. ~Be steadfast~  
  
"Zarkot!" Alviarin called from her side, voice full of terror and love. Jeriana looked up to see her brother surrounded by fourteen Aes Sedai, one from each Ajah. The Amyrlin Seat sat in a chair as she watched, a pleased smile on her face. Zarkot was kneeling, his Accepted robe torn off and lying in a heap.  
  
Jeriana was full of rage as she screamed and ran through the crowd to kneel beside her brother. Alviarin was right beside her. "He is an Accepted!" she cried to the crowed. "He is of the Tower, a tree-speaker! Do not do this!"  
  
Zarkot turned to look at her through empty eyes; he was bruised and battered from head to toe. Alviarin clutched his arm tightly. "Jeriana," he whispered in a ragged voice. "Stay with me?"  
  
Jeriana nodded, tears stinging her eyes. Then ~The way will come but once, be strong and steadfast!~ She turned her head to look at the Amyrlin and saw below her a stone circle. "No," she whispered as she remembered. "I cannot leave Zarkot."  
  
Alviarin was crying, the Aes Sedai were beginning. "Zarkot," Jeriana whispered. Then she began to crawl away.  
  
Zarkot watched her go. "No, Jeriana," he cried. "Please Jeriana, help me!" Jeriana shook her head as she backed through the doorway. "Jeriana!" Zarkot screamed.  
  
The cry still echoed in her ears as she stumbled onto the cold floor. Water was dumped over her but she did not feel it, she had gone numb with shock. "You come to us new, your present thoughts clear."  
  
Jeriana looked over at Silin with dead lilac eyes. "They gentled him," she said in an accusing tone. "They gentled my brother and stilled Alviarin!"  
  
Silin tightened her grip of Jeriana's arm, her face white. "They did no such thing Jeriana," she whispered as she guided her to the final stone. "It is not real, it is not really happening. The third doorway is for the future. The way back will come but once, be strong and steadfast." Then Jeriana stumbled into the third and final doorway...  
  
She was facing a tall tree. High in the branches sat Zarkot, eyes closed hand touching the tree. He was a tree-speaker and was talking with this tree. ~The way back will come but once, be strong and steadfast.~ The White Tower, her Accepted test. The way back...  
  
"Jeriana!" Zarkot called down. "Jeriana she is here!" He scrambled down out of the tree and turned to face west. "She is coming."  
  
Jeriana felt fear wash over her. "Lilac to me!" she cried loudly. "Lilac to me, she comes!" ~What am I saying? What is Lilac?~ A small part of her mind wondered what she was asking while the other part wondered what she was saying.  
  
There were small pops all around her and when she looked again there stood Liandrin, Alviarin, Rianna, Temaile, Amico, Ispan, Chesmal, Moiraine, Jeaine, and Marillin. Each of them had the shawl of an Aes Sedai only it was lilac in color! Fingering her own neck Jeriana realized she too wore a shawl and it was lilac as well!  
  
Then the shock was gone as Zarkot turned, flashing his own lilac shawl. "She's coming," he told them. "She's coming to slay us, you well know it."  
  
"Mierin," Temaile hissed, blue eyes flashing. "Mierin comes for us at last."  
  
Jeriana felt a surge of hatred boil through her at that name. ~Why? Mierin, there is nothing wrong with Mierin.~ Then just as quickly ~The way will come but once.~  
  
Suddenly she reached out and clasped Liandrin's hand on her right. Then she grabbed Alviarin's hand with her left. Liandrin smiled, her face glowing with confidence. "Just like that day that we were called to the Amyrlin's Study to be told of becoming Accepted."  
  
Jeriana smiled back as the others joined hands like they had that day. The thought of that day made her think of Silin waiting for her, nervously wringing her hands. And her having to get out and become Accepted. No, she was Lilac Ajah she had the shawl. Suddenly the sky turned black and a wind whipped up.  
  
"Here it comes!" Moiraine called from the other side of Alviarin. "Mierin is trying to break us apart!"  
  
"Don't let her separate us!" Jeriana shouted over the wind. "Whatever you do hang on to the others hands!"  
  
Then Mierin was among them and Jeriana felt for the Source, only it was gone. She cried out in despair. Mierin grinned widely as she called down lightning. Ispan cried out and then was silent. Chesmal crumpled down the line, her face pale and dark eyes wide. "No!" Zarkot cried, lunging for Mierin, his eyes burning. She struck him down with a ball of fire that he could not block somehow.  
  
Jeriana felt Alviarin's will to keep going weaken. "No Alviarin," she said. "Hold on to me, hold on."  
  
"I can't," Alviarin said in a weak voice, the silky coolness was gone. Mierin sensed the weakness and struck. Alviarin didn't even cry out as the fire burned her.  
  
~THE WAY WILL COME BUT ONCE~ the thought roared through her head as she launched herself at Mierin, hands bared. Beside her Liandrin faulted, eyes blank.  
  
"She stilled me!" Liandrin and Temaile cried as one. "Bloody Light she stilled me!"  
  
~BE STRONG~ "No!" Jeriana cried at the thought and at Mierin. "I have to save them." ~AND STEADFAST!~ A stone circle appeared to her right and Mierin looked at it. She raised her hand to close it but Jeriana dove through at the last second. Temaile and Liandrin watched her leave, eyes as dead as stone.  
  
Silin caught Jeriana as she fell out. "It's okay," she hushed the girl as the water was poured over her. "Hush now child," she whispered. "Nothing will harm you."  
  
((Ta-DAA! Jeriana is an Accepted now. She has the ring and everything.)) 


	13. Zarkot's Accepted Ceremony

((I know, evil Aes Sedai! Well not really, they didn't do it exactly. She choose to enter the circles and she didn't exactly have to. Okay this chapter is about Zarkot's Accepted ceremony. I'm not sure which one is going to be next so I will still accept any ideas on who else should be written about. Okay?))  
  
Zarkot looked up from his lap. He had been staring at his lap ever since Jeriana had left the room. His thoughts were drifting easily, as they often did now. They went between Alviarin, his sister, and the One Power. He was afraid now, afraid of going mad. He didn't want to stop touching saidin, even though it felt slick as oil to him and times and full of evil. "The taint of the Dark One," he muttered as he looked up.  
  
"Jeriana is finished," Silin announced, her hands shaking face pale and drawn. "She is finished and in her room, weeping." Her pale eyes were almost accusing as she looked at Sierin. "She was not ready," she snapped. "What she saw..it was too much for her!"  
  
Sierin glanced at her coolly then turned her gaze upon Zarkot. "It is your turn Zarkot," she said. "Will you go?"  
  
Zarkot stood, all traces of unease gone. "I will go," he said. He was ready for this test; he had been waiting for it for years now. Thoughts of his sister weeping he shoved ruthlessly to the back of his head. ~I have to be ready for this, mind and soul~ he thought as he walked down the stairs to the chamber. ~No matter how much I wish to comfort my sister I must get through my Test first.~  
  
A breath of cool air caught his face as he opened the door. Inside torchlight flickered and he could see the Aes Sedai and the three rings that he had to go through. There was suddenly a lump in his throat. Jeriana almost never cried a little, much less wept. What could she have seen in there that was so horrible? He did not allow his face to show the fear he was feeling as he came up to Lyrenna Sedai.  
  
Lyrenna did not even smile as she said, "Sorry about this Zarkot but you must be totally unclothed in order to enter the rings." Zarkot flushed slightly as he took off his clothes. He wasn't really listening as Lyrenna guided him to the first ring and spoke to the other Aes Sedai standing there. But he did hear her say, "The first time is for what was. The way back will come but once. Be steadfast."  
  
Zarkot nodded and jumped into the first ring...  
  
...And found himself in a dark room. ~The way back will come but once. Be steadfast.~ "Whatever," he muttered. He had odd thoughts all the time now. Voices telling him that his own sister was Black Ajah and that he should hurt her. And Alviarin, the only girl he had ever really loved in that way.  
  
He stood up and opened the door of his room. He always kept it dark in there now, that way it was harder to see the images floating around him. In the dark the voices came less often. As he walked down the hall, his eyes dead, he found himself walking towards where the rooms of the Aes Sedai were. Where his sister was. She had been raised to the shawl only three years after her Accepted ceremony while now, five years later; he was still only an Accepted.  
  
He raised his hand to knock at Jeriana's door and was surprised when he found himself embracing saidin, all the filthy sweetness of it. When the door opened he knocked Jeriana back with a blow of saidin. ~What am I doing?!~ a small part of his mind demanded even as he wrapped Jeriana in bonds of air and cut her off from the One Power. ~Why would I ever harm my sister?~  
  
Jeriana stopped struggling and looked at her brother with confused eyes. "What are you doing Zarkot?" she asked carefully, as though speaking to a wild animal. "You are supposed to be in your cell, you're safe there. You know what we were going to do for you, remember?"  
  
Zarkot shook his head at the tone. He had wanted to be in that room, it was his decision to stay in it, no one else's. The voices said...~The way back will come.~ That voice he ignored, right now he was concentrating on his sister. "I am no wild animal," he snarled. "So don't speak to me like I am. Just because I'm a lowly Accepted while you're an Aes Sedai!"  
  
Jeriana's eyes widened. "Zarkot I, I, you're not a wild animal," she said.  
  
A smile curled at Zarkot's lips as he said, "You think I'm one though. You can't say otherwise because you cannot lie!" ~What am I doing! Stop it, no!~  
  
It felt like something else was taking over his mind and he was suddenly thrown against a wall and a man in all black stood in his place. His mind was clear for the first time in months and he was full of fear when he saw the man was channeling saidin and holding Jeriana up. "No!" he screamed and threw himself at the man. He slid along a smooth glass wall and felt slightly dazed. He reached out for saidin and felt himself blocked. AS he watched, helpless, his sister was twisted in the air, eyes bulging, screaming as loud as she could.  
  
"Jeriana!" he cried helplessly. ~Be steadfast.~ The thought rolled through his head as a white arch appeared in the wall. The Accepted Test! He had to go back through the arch, but if he did then he would be leaving Jeriana. "It's not real!" he cried out as he jumped through the arch.  
  
On the other side he didn't hear words as cold water was poured over his head. He looked at Lyrenna as she moved him and asked, "Is it real? Does it really happen?"  
  
"No one knows," Lyrenna said shortly. She was recounting her own experience at the Test, it had not been pleasant at all. "But if it is then it is and so be it. We have life here, duty and responsibility here. The second time is for what is. The way back will come but once. Be steadfast." Zarkot nodded and walked through the stone arch.  
  
Zarkot was leaning against Galad, his thoughts seeping through the tree even as the tree's thoughts seeped through him. ~The way back will come but once. Be steadfast~ That was not the thought of a tree. He removed his hands from the golden trunk and sighed. "What is wrong?" Lyrenna asked from behind him.  
  
"Nothing Lyrenna Sedai," he replied. But through his mind flashed images of a smiling girl. "Except for maybe..."  
  
"Alviarin," Lyrenna finished. "You spend too much time thinking about her and not enough time thinking about your studies. You must concentrate on your work, not your girlfriend."  
  
"It's not really Alviarin," Zarkot said. "Okay, well, maybe it's her...but another girl stays in my thoughts right along with her."  
  
Lyrenna's eyes went wide. "That is not a good idea Zarkot," she said. "You have enough trouble concentrating with one woman on your mind, never mind there being two!"  
  
Zarkot looked at his feet. ~The way back will come but once~ "The other girl is Mierin," he said softly. "She keeps coming to me when I am not near Alviarin and trying to get me to take her instead. And I am tempted to."  
  
"Mierin?" Lyrenna demanded. "That girl has never shown any interest in boys, ever. She has never once gone down to watch the Warders practice like most girls do. And I have never seen her even look at you."  
  
"She doesn't when other people are around," Zarkot said. "And she makes me feel so guilty, so afraid of actually taking her over Alviarin. I fear that Lyrenna. I fear that almost as much as I fear..."  
  
"Being gentled?" a lilting voice asked from the shadows. Zarkot's head snapped up and Lyrenna's swung around. Out stepped a short, heavy-set woman with pale hair and dark eyes. "Which is exactly what we are here to do, my dear Accepted boy."  
  
Zarkot turned and began to climb up Galad but felt himself seized by heavy currents of air. "No!" he shouted as he was thrown to the ground and bound hand and foot. "Release me!" he yelled, voice rising in panic. "I am an Accepted of the White Tower! You cannot do this to me!"  
  
"Oh yes we can," the woman replied. "Sierin Vayu has just been replaced as the Amyrlin Seat, I am the new one. And I have determined that you, Zarkot, shall be gentled as to remove the threat that you pose to the Tower."  
  
"He poses no threat!" Lyrenna objected, her face pale. "None! He has never even showed signs of madness."  
  
"That does not matter," the woman said and she raised her hand. Thirteen Aes Sedai came out of the woods and the glow of saidar surrounded them. Zarkot's dark violet eyes widened and his throat tightened so that not a sound could get through it. "We are taking him to the public court to be gentled."  
  
"No you are not," a strong voice stated from behind Zarkot. Out stepped his sister, Jeriana, her lilac eyes blazing with fury yet she radiated calm. On her left was Alviarin and on her right was Liandrin. Temaile was there with a determined smile, so were Chesmal, Ispan, Moiraine, Jeaine, Marillin, and Rianna. "We will not allow you to do this to Zarkot, he is my twin and an Accepted of this Tower!"  
  
"You are only ten," the woman scoffed. "Ten Accepted at that. We can overpower you as well. All of you show great potential, daughter. Do not throw it away on this male."  
  
"We are linked," Jeriana said. "With Lyrenna Sedai and there are two more linked with us behind you. Leane and Siuan are more then happy to join with our cause against yours. A Red Sister has not been Amyrlin for a long time, for a good reason and we plan to dispose you." Liandrin's face was slightly sour at those words; she favored Red Ajah for some obscure reason. Yet she still stood with Jeriana to free him.  
  
Zarkot felt himself nearly scream at his sister to leave. But his throat was still locked up, not a sound could he force from his mouth. ~Why am I so weak-willed?~ he screamed at himself. ~Fight them! Your friends fight, fight!~ Then another thought, ~The way back will come~  
  
The women laughed at her. "We are linked as well little girl," she snarled. "And there is no way that thirteen Accepted and one Aes Sedai will be able to overpower us!"  
  
A wind began to whip up and Zarkot could tell that it hurt the girls for their faces twisted slightly. Then as one they struck out and the woman who claimed to be the Amyrlin let out a scream. Just as quickly a she screamed the bonds around Zarkot loosened and he dropped to the ground.  
  
"Get out of here!" Jeriana yelled at him. Even as she ordered him to go he could see her pain, they were hurting her. When she saw his hesitation she waved her hand at him. "Get out!"  
  
Lyrenna then screamed, the first time Zarkot had ever heard her do so. She fell to the ground, eyes bulging as she clawed at her throat. It was almost as though she could not breathe. "No!" Zarkot shouted as he ran towards his mentor. "Stop it, leave them alone!"  
  
Suddenly a wall of air hardened in front of him. He looked around for the cause and saw Alviarin watching him. "Go," she told him, dark eyes full of fear and love. "Go Zarkot, get out before they gentle you."  
  
"No!" Zarkot shouted, struggling against the wall. But deep inside he felt a major part of himself agreeing with the girls. ~I should leave~ he told himself. ~They can handle themselves and I can be free from the Aes Sedai who want to gentle me!~ Even as he turned to go he caught sight of Lyrenna lying on the ground, all movement had stopped. Her face was nearly black and her eyes still bulged slightly. There were scratch marks on her neck where she had tried to pry away the invisible hands.  
  
Despair filled Zarkot then as he turned to go. ~I can do nothing now, for none of them~ But then a stronger voice said ~The way back will come but once. Be steadfast.~ Zarkot turned back to the battle and saw a shimmering white arch directly behind the Amyrlin. He remembered his Test then. "But is that real?" he asked. "Or is this?"  
  
"No choice," he declared as he started towards the arch. But a wall came in front of him again and he struggled to get through. "Release me Alviarin," he demanded. But the girl simply shook her head. "Please Alviarin," he begged as the arch began to fade. "You must release me from this, take the wall down!"  
  
"No Zarkot," she said. "I cannot let you be gentled. I love you and you must be safe, even if I die. So go." Then she turned back to the battle.  
  
Zarkot gritted his teeth and nearly screamed. The only way he knew of to get rid of that wall was to get rid of Alviarin. To destroy the girl he loved. "It's not real," he said to himself. "It is not real! This is just a Test and I must get back to the White Tower through that arch!"  
  
Even as he embraced saidin to strike Alviarin down he hesitated. "It's not real," he tried to convince himself. "It is not real! This is not my Alviarin, this is not!" Yet he still hesitated. "What if she is my Alviarin and this arch is a dream?" The arch faded even more and the words sounded in his head. ~Be steadfast.~ "Oh Light forgive me!" he begged as he released the Power and Alviarin crumbled to the ground.  
  
Tears streaming down his face Zarkot stumbled through the fading arch and his feet touched solid rock. Water was poured over his head, mixing with the tears that streamed. "You are washed clean of any misdeeds," someone intoned, he did not know who. His eyes were all for Lyrenna.  
  
"You're alive," he whispered. "They did not kill you, you're alive!"  
  
Lyrenna's face paled slightly as she steered Zarkot toward the final arch. "I am alive," she said faintly. "I am very much alive."  
  
"Is it real?" Zarkot asked her. "Is what happens in there real?" Tears made fresh tracks down his face as he thought of Alviarin. "Please tell me they are not!"  
  
"No one knows," Lyrenna replied. "It could be in another world. It could be real somewhere else."  
  
Zarkot trembled as he thought of the third arch. But he could not stop now, no matter how much he feared what was on the other side. He would be an Accepted no matter what. "The third way is for what will be," Lyrenna said softly. "The way back will come but once. Be steadfast." Then Zarkot walked through the final arch.  
  
Zarkot laughed happily as he watched his son, a strong young man with dark brown hair and violet eyes, explain to his younger brother how to shoot a bow. "But I want to be Aes Sedai like father!" the young boy cried in a shrill voice. ~Jacob~ Zarkot thought, ~the young one is Jacob and the elder one is Simon. But where is Alviarin, Jeriana and little Jasmine?~  
  
"Here we are father!" a small, girlish voice called as though his thoughts had summoned her. He turned towards her and saw Alviarin, Jeriana, and Jasmine walking up to them. Jasmine was a dead-ringer for Alviarin. And Jeriana was carrying her daughter, a girl she had named Jamina who looked exactly like her. "We were gathering herbs for our supper with aunt Jeriana."  
  
Alviarin walked up to him and kissed him before sitting beside him. She had chosen the Green Ajah when she was raised to the shawl, which had shocked many people. ~The way back will come but once. Be steadfast~ What was that thought? This was his home, this was his life. Here with his wife and children with his sister and her husband living just around the bend. The rest of their friends lived nearby; they had all created a small community once they left the White Tower because they disagreed on certain views.  
  
"Zarkot?" Alviarin asked. "What is wrong?"  
  
"Oh nothing," Zarkot said with a smile. "I was just thinking about something."  
  
"Silly daddy," Jasmine said as she hummed to herself. Then she looked over at Jamina and asked, "Do you want to play?"  
  
The serious little Jamina shook her head and said, "Not until the bad lady goes away."  
  
Jeriana looked over at her daughter. "What bad lady, Jamina?" she asked.  
  
"That one," Jamina said, pointing to the nearest hill. Zarkot, Alviarin, and Jeriana all stood up and gasped.  
  
"No," Jeriana said weakly. "It cannot be her, we, we killed her!"  
  
Zarkot felt the blood drain from his face as he made out the beautiful facial details of Mierin. "No," he whispered. "She is dead, we did kill her!"  
  
Alviarin suddenly reared up on her ankles and began to scream. "Alviarin!" Zarkot shouted as he tried to sever the flows of whatever Mierin was using. "Jeriana, help her!"  
  
"I can't," Jeriana said helplessly, eyes gone blank. "I cannot grasp the Power anymore. Somehow it is gone from me."  
  
Zarkot felt a hollow spot grow in his soul. His own sister stilled when she had managed to save him so many times. He felt anger growing and lashed out at Mierin with all his might. Then, beside him, he saw his daughter clinging to Jamina, crying.  
  
"Mother!" Jasmine cried. "Mother; father help her! Aunt Jeriana!"  
  
Jeriana turned an empty gaze on her daughter and niece. Then she looked at Zarkot and said simply, "Why did you not save me? Why can you not save your wife and children?"  
  
Zarkot shook his head and stumbled back. ~The way back will come~ His head snapped up as he thought of the White Tower and his Accepted Test. "This isn't real," he said to his sister. "I'm going to go back and then you will be fine, you will not be cut off from the True Source."  
  
"Zarkot have you gone mad?" Jeriana demanded. "Save your wife and children. You couldn't save me so save them!"  
  
"I can't!" he cried as a glimmering arch appeared. "I am too afraid too Jeriana, I am too afraid!" Then he turned and ran through the arch, the words still coming out of his mouth, "I am too afraid, I am too weak!"  
  
((There, Zarkot is now an Accepted. He has the ring and special outfit as well. Who's up next? Wait and see!)) 


	14. Pain and a Gift

((Okay I know that Zarkot's ceremony wasn't the best. So I decided to be done with the Accepted ceremonies. But I will include some of what they saw...in flashbacks or something like that. Okay?))  
  
Jeriana was sitting on her bed, tears flowing freely from her pale lilac eyes. She held Liandrin at her side and was rocking the honey-blond girl back and forth. Alviarin was sobbing on her left shoulder while Jeaine was on the other. Temaile was at the foot of the bed, her eyes wide and frightened.  
  
"Why?" Liandrin asked. "Why did I do that? That was not me!" Her sobs doubled as she clutched Jeriana's arm tightly.  
  
Jeriana flinched, remembering what she had seen of Liandrin in the arches. "It's not real," she whispered softly. "None of it is real."  
  
"Are you sure?" Temaile asked, her voice quieter and more sober then it had ever been. "Are you sure that none of it is true? That none of it is real?"  
  
Alviarin lifted her head up from Jeriana's shoulder. "It may be," she said. "It may be true but, Light I hope it isn't!"  
  
"I hope it is not as well," Jeriana said. She was watching Alviarin closely. "Otherwise I would lost all that is dear to me, as would others." ~They were stilled!~  
  
Jeaine let out a loud sob and began to shake. "It cannot be real!" she said fiercely. "None of it is true, none of it!" She began to shake more violently. "None of it!" Alarmed Jeriana turned to Jeaine and held her tightly.  
  
"Hush Jeaine," Jeriana whispered. "It is okay, nothing that happened there happened here. It's all right." The coppery-skinned girl gave herself up to sobbing quietly in Jeriana's arms.  
  
Liandrin sat up finally and wiped her face clear off tears. "None of it is true then, not here at least."  
  
"No it's not," Alviarin said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself. Her face was extremely pale and her eyes were filled with fear.  
  
"It may not be real," Jeriana said. "But it still hurts, it hurts to see that all. It hurts to have left, it hurts so badly..." Then she cried into Jeaine's hair. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry that I did not save you all."  
  
"It's okay," Alviarin and Liandrin said together. "You did your best, right?"  
  
"I did," Jeriana said. "I tried so hard but she stilled you and then she killed you!"  
  
The other three who had stopped crying looked at each other then at the ground. "I need to go back to my room," Temaile said as she rushed out the door. She had a slightly sick look on her face, stilling was never pleasant to hear about, mostly when it involved yourself.  
  
Alviarin left next muttering something about, "Making sure Rianna and Chesmal are holding up."  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow," Liandrin said as she left, her doll-face pale.  
  
Jeaine continued to cry and so did Jeriana. Those two had both seen horrible things; Jeaine's ceremony had been at least as horrible as Jeriana's, if not worse. She had watched as each of her friends, every last one was tortured and killed by a woman she could not see. That had been the second thing she had seen, the last had been the worst.  
  
"Will you be okay?" Jeriana asked Jeaine, pushing the other girl up. Jeaine swayed as she leaned off of Jeriana.  
  
"I, I'll be fine," Jeaine said in a trembling voice. She tried to smile but it looked terrible.  
  
"Are you sure?" Jeriana asked. She herself knew that she would not sleep that night, too many bad things had happened in that arch for her dreams to not be terrible.  
  
Jeaine shook her head. "No, I will not be okay," she said. "It was horrible Jeriana, horrible! My fears, I, I never knew that my fears were so deep."  
  
Jeriana looked at Jeaine's face and felt great pity. Normally this girl was so happy that you wanted to smack her. But now she was so miserable that it was frightening. She was about to say something when the door creaked open.  
  
"The Amyrlin Seat would like to see you," a dark-haired novice said. She frowned slightly at Jeaine. "She said nothing about another though."  
  
Jeriana stood and wiped the wetness off of her white Accepted dress, pulling Jeaine to her feet as she stood. "Jeaine is coming with me," she said, fingering her Great Serpent ring. "If you think she should stay then you can try to make her."  
  
"Maybe I should stay here," Jeaine said. "I do not wish the Amyrlin to see me in such a state."  
  
"You're coming with me," Jeriana said firmly, tugging the other girl along as she went. "I am not leaving you here to wallow in your self-pity, you can do that some other time."  
  
Jeaine smiled faintly and straightened her dark blond hair. If she had to see the Amyrlin at least she could be presentable.  
  
"She's expecting you," the Keeper said when the two appeared at the study. "But she is not expecting Jeaine as well. Maybe she should stay out here with me."  
  
"No," Jeriana said firmly. "Jeaine is staying with me. She had a really bad time in the arches and needs to be with a friend. Are you going to let us in then?"  
  
The Keeper sighed and hid a small smile. Jeriana had a reputation for doing what she thought was best, and hang all other opinions. "Go on in," she said. "But if she is unhappy it is your head."  
  
Jeriana nodded and walked in, her hand still firmly clutching Jeaine's arm. "Mother," she said, bowing her head. "You sent for me?"  
  
"I did send for you, daughter," Sierin Vayu said. "Yet I do not recall sending for Jeaine as well."  
  
Jeaine blushed faintly and tried to pull free of Jeriana's grasp. "Jeaine is in a lot of pain right now, mother," she said. "I'm keeping her with me until she's calmer."  
  
"As you wish, daughter," Sierin said. "Obviously she is a good friend and if you wish to keep her close then you may. But I have something for you."  
  
"What is it mother?" Jeriana asked, curiosity making her forget all pain.  
  
Sierin reached under her desk and pulled out a small box. It was made of pale ivory and had gold inlays on it. The inlays made swirls and small runes that Jeriana had never seen before, no, wait. She had seen those designs before, she had seen that very box! In one of her 'visions'. It had been given to a young woman, an Accepted, someone who resembled Sierin Vayu. By a tall woman in a cloak with a silky soft voice. "Give this to her," the woman had said.  
  
"Who is she?" the young Sierin had asked.  
  
"You will know who she is the night of her Accepted ceremony," the woman replied before vanishing.  
  
Jeaine elbowed Jeriana, snapping her out of her trance-like state. "That is for me, isn't it?" she asked the Amyrlin, who nodded.  
  
"It is a gift for you Jeriana," Sierin said as she held it out. "I do not know what is in it, I do not even know who gave it to you."  
  
"Yes I know that," Jeriana said. "I mean, I saw that."  
  
"Another one of your visions, eh?" Sierin asked. "Well take the box back to your room and open it up. I don't want to know what is in it. I tried to see what was once, about ten years ago, and I still have the scar on my arm that it left. So you're free to go."  
  
Jeriana nodded and grabbed the box before leaving, Jeaine hurrying after her. "Slow down Jeriana!" Jeaine cried as she followed her. "You're going a little too fast!"  
  
Jeriana slowed down a bit so that Jeaine could catch up to her. But she didn't say a word until they were in her room with the door closed. Then she sat on the bed and began fiddling with the box. "I wonder who gave that to you?" Jeaine said as she settled herself on Jeriana's bed.  
  
"I don't know," Jeriana said. "But I have a feeling.."  
  
"That's not surprising," Jeaine muttered. "You always have 'feelings.'"  
  
Jeriana flashed her a smile and continued examining the box. "I have a feeling that this is from my...mother."  
  
"That's right," Jeaine said. "You never knew who she truly was, did you?"  
  
"No I did not," Jeriana said with a pang. "It could have been the woman who dropped me on the porch of the village baker and his wife, or it could not have been. I don't know. Ah-ha!"  
  
The lid of the small box popped open and a beautiful melody began to play. Jeriana and Jeaine both leaned in closer to look inside. The box was lined with lush red velvet on the inside and only a single object sat there. Jeriana picked it up and felt a jolt run through her body.  
  
Jeaine watched as Jeriana picked the small object up. Her friend's lilac eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she collapsed. "Light!" Jeaine cried as she caught her. "Blood and ashes this is not good!"  
  
((Okay I'll get to what she picked up in the next chapter, at least I finally updated!)) 


	15. Mother?

((Sorry that I took so long to get up a new chapter but I was working on my other stories. Zarkot and Lyrenna talk to trees because it is their Talent. Like Jeriana's truth seeing. Oh yeah, I changed my pen-name in case you can't tell!))  
  
Jeriana struggled as the object in her hand began to pulse and give off a faint violet light. She was falling through a tunnel of black, the only light coming from the object she held. In the distance she could have sworn that she heard Jeaine calling out for her to wake up. ~But I'm not sleeping am I?~ she wondered as she continued to fall. Then she stopped falling, she was standing on a floor of red marble.  
  
"Where am I?" she wondered out loud. "How did I get here?" To her surprise the small object she had touched in the box was around her wrist. It was made of a dark green glass-like substance and had small black and white opals all around it. Try though she might it would not come off.  
  
"That object brought you here," a voice said from the shadows. Jeriana whirled around, embracing saidar as she did. "I put that one in the box so that you would come here when the time was right."  
  
Jeriana felt her throat tighten as she remembered the image she had seen when she touched the box. "My mother gave this to me," she said, touching the bracelet. "Through Sierin Vayu she did."  
  
"Indeed I did," the voice said. "I determined that I would far rather meet you here then your twin, you seemed to be the stronger and he was taken away by that Aes Sedai, Lyrenna." There was a feeling of hate that surged forth when she mentioned Aes Sedai, as though she hated nothing more in all the world. Then the woman who had been speaking stepped forth to stand about a foot away from Jeriana.  
  
Tears filled the girl's eyes as she looked upon the face of her mother. It was a beautiful face. Her hair was long and midnight black, her eyes were dark brown, no, black. Her skin was perfectly smooth and white. She was wearing a dark blue dress with sparkles all over it. "Mother?" Jeriana asked in a trembling voice.  
  
The woman nodded and smiled gently. Then she held out her arms. "Come here my Jeriana," she said. Jeriana ran right up to the other woman and hugged her tightly, crying with joy. "It is all right," the woman muttered as she stroked Jeriana's hair. "It is all right."  
  
After a few minutes Jeriana stopped sobbing and looked up at the woman. "Are you truly my mother?" she asked. "Did you leave that box for me?"  
  
"You are a truth-seer," the woman said gently. "See for yourself."  
  
With a shaking hand Jeriana reached forth and touched her mother's forehead. An image of thoughts and feelings assaulted her. More then she had ever felt before, almost as though this woman had lived for more years then anyone possibly could have. She saw people serving the woman with black-hair willingly and then unwillingly. The woman discovered something horrible and yet wonderful in her eyes. Great cities that made Jeriana want to cry when they vanished; things that could not have possibly existed. A great war that caused so many deaths, a wrenching feeling of pain as someone turned her away. The woman then was sleeping, for so long. When she awoke the world had changed so much. She walked around and found a man who reminded her of someone she had once loved. Then she gave birth to Jeriana and Zarkot; then she fled.  
  
Jeriana pulled her hands away, panting. There had been a feel of evil in that woman that flashed for a brief moment and was gone just as quickly. She wiped sweat off of her face and looked at the woman who said she was her mother. "What are you?" she demanded. "I have never felt things like that, I've never seen things like that! And I felt..evil. A greater evil then I've ever known."  
  
The woman took a step closer to her and Jeriana fought down the urge to run away. She might get lost; after all she had absolutely no clue of where she was. The sense of evil was growing greater as the woman smiled. "Evil is only what you make it out to be," she said gently as she brushed back a strand of Jeriana's silver-gold hair. "Some people even think that evil is better then good. If evil and good are truly in existence as we think they are."  
  
Jeriana asked, "Where am I?"  
  
The woman smiled and spread her arms around her. "We are in Tel'aran'rhiod, my daughter," she said with a grin.  
  
Jeriana gasped. She had heard of Tel'aran'rhiod of course. She had read about it in many books and even taken a class on it once about a year ago. But she had no Talent for Dreamwalking. And unless one could Dreamwalk or had a ter'angreal that would allow them access to the World of Dreams they would only briefly flicker in this place. "How?" she asked. "I am no Dreamwalker!"  
  
The woman smiled again and reached forward to touch the bracelet. "This is a ter'angreal," she said softly. "That brings the wearer to Tel'aran'rhiod whenever she sleeps. But I added a little something. The first time you touched it it brought you here automatically. From now on though you will control when you do and do not come."  
  
Jeriana's jaw dropped and her lilac eyes widened with shock. Such a gift was beyond pricing and no Aes Sedai would approve of a mere Accepted having in her possession. "Such a bracelet," she stuttered. "Is too great for a mere Accepted to hold." She then began to attempt to remove it.  
  
The woman stepped forward and took both of Jeriana's hands in her own. "Listen to me Jeriana," she said. "This bracelet is yours. As is the box it came in. I will not tell you what that does, it is for you to discover on your own. Tell no Aes Sedai that you have this bracelet, no one!"  
  
"Why is it so important?" Jeriana asked.  
  
"It is the only way I can see you Jeriana," the woman said with a smile. "In the World of Dreams we can meet. I can teach of this place and you will learn well. In addition to your other lessons at the Tower of course."  
  
Jeriana nodded, she felt a touch of anxiety coming from the woman. "May I ask you something?" she asked quietly and the woman nodded. "What is your name?"  
  
The woman's eyes went wide and her face paled slightly. "My name," she said in an unsteady voice and Jeriana felt the woman become awash with feelings of fear, anxiety, and a slight tinge of anger. Suddenly a thought occurred to Jeriana, her mother was like an adult version of that girl from the Tower, Mierin. She was about to say so when the woman said, "My name is Lanrin, and I am your mother."  
  
Jeriana didn't say a word. It was almost like her mother was lying; only she wasn't. "Lanrin," she repeated, savoring the name. Trying to push the feels of evil that she had felt from the woman earlier she embraced her. "My mother."  
  
Lanrin stroked Jeriana's silver-gold hair as she held her. Her eyes were distant. When Jeriana pulled back from her she lifted Jeriana's chin up. There were tears in both sets of eyes. "Jeriana," she said. "You must leave Tel'aran'rhiod now. You may return tomorrow night when you sleep. I will be waiting for you right here and we will begin your lessons."  
  
"May I tell Zarkot?" Jeriana asked. "May I tell him that I have met our mother?"  
  
"No!" Lanrin said. "Tell no one of our meeting Jeriana. It will raise too many questions about how you managed to enter Tel'aran'rhiod. Now go, they are waiting for you."  
  
Jeriana hugged her mother one last time before she pulled the bracelet off and held it tightly in her hand. Her eyes popped open and she found herself looking into the worried pale green eyes of Jeaine.  
  
"Jeriana!" the coppery-skinned woman said happily, hugging her so tightly she though her ribs would break. "You're awake!"  
  
"Yes Jeaine," she said, gasping for breath. "I am awake."  
  
"I was just about to send for a Yellow sister," Jeaine said as she let go of Jeriana. "I thought that thing you grabbed had harmed you."  
  
Jeriana opened up her hand and found that she still clutched the dark green bracelet tightly. "I'm just fine," she said. "Are you all right?"  
  
Tears returned to Jeaine's eyes and she shook her head, biting her lip. Jeriana hugged her again as the sobs started back up. "I thought they were gone," she said. "I thought the memories were gone."  
  
Those words made Jeriana remember and she cried too. "They'll never be gone," she said softly. "But for now we can get through it."  
  
It was around three in the morning when the two girls finally fell asleep, faces wet with tears.  
  
((Sorry again that I took so long for an up-date! I can tell you then won't be another one for at least a week 'cause I'll no internet access!)) 


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